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Baumholder's fate uncertain

Aug-22-2004 » Filed Under: General Military

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By Terry Boyd, Stars and Stripes

BAUMHOLDER, Germany — If there was ever a base on the bubble, it’s Baumholder.

German officials — noting that Baumholder is a major U.S. Army base close to Ramstein Air Base and the Kaiserslautern Military Community — hope its location will keep it open.

But, as a 1st Armored Division base, it’s future is far from assured.

Senior U.S. defense officials confirmed at a Pentagon background briefing on Monday that the 1st Infantry Division and 1st AD will leave Germany. Pentagon officials emphasized the transformation of forces will occur over 10 years, and so far, there are no appropriations to build facilities in the United States to accommodate the division’s four land brigades, two aviation brigades, division artillery and headquarters that are all currently in Europe.[...]


In 2002, Army Secretary Thomas White stated that the 1st AD may swap places with a Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash. Strykers — relatively speedy wheeled, armored vehicles capable of carrying different types of armaments depending on mission — are more quickly deployable by aircraft than M1A1 Abrams tanks.

Testifying in March 2003 before the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. Montgomery Meigs, former U.S. Army Europe commander, called Baumholder “the likely site of a Stryker Brigade” because it is close to Ramstein, the Air Force’s staging point for both European Command and Central Command operations.

But now, that Stryker brigade appears to be headed to Grafehwöhr Training Area, 400 miles across Germany, near the border with the Czech Republic — a move favored by the German federal government, Bruch said.

Earlier this year, Maj. Gary Tallman, Stryker Brigade spokesman at the Pentagon, told Stars and Stripes that Baumholder was not on the list of bases to receive the Stryker units.[...]


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